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Website feature allows residents to report non-emergencies

By Amanda Burke, aburke@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
03/07/2017 09:51:39 AM EST

Robin Ladouceur (left), a representative for SeeClickFix, a company that is adding a new feature to city of Leominster s website, joined Mayor Dean Mazzarella on Monday to announce the online service.
(SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/CLIFF CLARK)

LEOMINSTER -- Winter always brings tire-shredding, suspension-busting potholes, and the city has just announced a new system that lets residents report them as they see them.

"We're going to try and stay in touch with whoever that customer is," said Mayor Dean Mazzarella. "They're going to get an email back saying, 'that problem's been taken care of.'"

The system is a website and mobile application called SeeClickFix that is already used in 55 towns and cities across the state, said Robin Ladouceur, a representative for the New Haven-based company. It allows residents to remotely report non-emergencies including downed trees, flickering streetlights, and "blight" like unmowed lawns.

The city strives to address each complaint within 24 hours, Mazzarella said.

To report an issue, residents download the SeeClickFix smartphone app or navigate to the website online. After logging in with an email address and password, users indicate the address they observed the problem and the nature of their complaint.

Then, the user chooses a term that matches the complaint from a drop-down list of categories like "abandoned vehicle" and "sidewalk damage." Users are encouraged to upload a photo or video illustrating their complaint.

"If we can engage the public to help us with either their eyes or their ears we can take a pothole... get a picture of it... [the] closest address, and then their work is done," said Mazzarella.

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"Now it's our work to get it done."

Mazzarella said the platform, which costs $4,500 a year to implement, will save the city money by reducing traffic claims and streamlining the issue reporting process.

"At the end of the day not only can we take care of the problems quicker, but we're hoping that we have less problems as a result," Mazzarella said.

Officials are more likely to address a complaint if multiple people report it, Mazzarella said, and they can only address those complaints regarding damage in public places.

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